Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Victorian Bedroom Suite

Hello everyone and welcome back! I am finally getting back to my own house tour. We are almost done, only 2 bedrooms left! We are still upstairs and will see my son's room today. Now remember, he is not a Victorian wanna be, so besides the furniture, his room is VERY BORING! But before we see his room I need to take you to Boonville real quick and then we'll get back to my house.
Okay, you guys know that I totally love Victorian houses and antique auctions, right? Well put those two together and I am the happiest little clam you ever did see, especially when I get to buy some of those original furnishings! So back in August of 2009 I went to this auction in historic Boonville, Mo., the house and the original furnishings were all up for auction.
Below is a photo of the house. (I took it a month or so ago and just realized when comparing the photo to the auction flyer from 2009 that the new owner has removed the front porch columns and its large round top! That leads me to believe that the guy was not a Victorian wanna be! )

At some point the turret roof was also removed...that's too bad. The front porch cover was round, matching the white part of the turret. I hate it when original architectural elements are removed from old houses.

I did not get a photo on auction day with all the wonderful stuff in the front yard. If I had you would have seen the 3 piece Victorian walnut bedroom suite that I bought. And you would have seen the sorry state that it was in. Unfortunately I didn't take those "before" photos and wished I would have.
So now, back to my son's bedroom...
here is the bed, it is 7'4" tall. The large panel on the headboard and several pieces on the footboard were off but luckily still there. So I added them back on. On the bed rail hardware it has Norris and Co. Patented Sep 10 1878 on it.

Below is the washstand...
The drawer pulls are not original and are way too large for it and the dresser. Some day maybe I will find a set of 10 pulls more like the originals. The pulls had been replaced prior to 1962, when the second owner bought the house and its furnishings. How lucky they were! At the auction she told me that she was a little girl when her family bought the house and most of the contents were then moved up to the attic! Including this bedroom set that they never used. So I'm not sure how it got to the sad state that it was in when I bought it.

Here is the dresser, it had some pieces off as well and the mirror was broken and had to be replaced.

Here is a close up of the detail on the crowns... and my hands and camera reflection in the mirror. Oops!

I like this picture with the reflection of the bed and washstand in the dresser mirror. I had always wanted a 3 piece bedroom set and actually went to this auction for the washstand but when I got there saw that it was actually part of a set and knew that this could be my chance! And because all the pieces needed some work I figured I could get it for a great price and I did! Yay! Need I say, hubby was NOT happy with me!

Also at the auction was this incomplete washset. It has beautiful hand painted scenes on it. It is kind of funny how I acquired it for I did not get it at the auction because it went higher then I wanted to pay for it in the condition that it was in and plus I knew I had to save my money for the bed set.

So, here's the story...a dealer bought it and had it at a local antique mall for $175. I still loved it but definitely wouldn't pay that for it either. So about two years later it was moved to a different mall and marked down to $100. Well that's when I decided to make my move and offer $60 for it and because she had had it for so long accepted my offer!! So I ended up paying less then what she paid for it at the auction! All's well that ends well!

I keep the set boxed up in my closet for now and some day when the room is vacant (boo!hoo!) I will have it here, like this.
Below is the chamber pot, minus the lid! Darn! And the set is missing the slop jar.

Notice the beautiful hand painted scenes. I especially like the gold bow on all the pieces.

And look at this scene. I love the rock bridge.

Also at the auction I bought a vase full of parasols for $15. The original owner, William Mittlebach (1856-1930) had two daughters, Leola born 1884 and Lenora born 1886. After the parents death they lived there together until Lenora married and moved to NY, so Leola remained in the house, a widow, until her death in 1960. So I would imagine these parasols belonged to the sisters. Isn't that cool?

This parasol is my very favorite, because I love fancy and I love lace. But look at it! The lace has not withheld the test of time. Unfortunately! So it stays in a bag in the closet while the other 5 have their place in the hallstand in the foyer. To see it click here.

Well that is it for this post. Thankyou for visiting, have a great week and I hope to see you next time.

4 comments:

Wow! What a beautiful bed and pieces to go with it! I love it. And what a great deal on the other piece for $60. I'm so glad I discovered your blog. And yes, the house looks funny, but I know it would cost some money to fix it back. Have a good week!

We have a dresser very similar to yours, it was built right around 1850.I would love a house like yours. Unfortunately that's out of the question at this time. However, we did build our own "Victorian room" - - - http://passionforthepast.blogspot.com/2012/03/afternoon-in-parlor.html" and: http://passionforthepast.blogspot.com/2011/12/having-historic-christmas-in-my-own.html

About Me

Welcome to my blog! My name is Gina, I am married, have 2 "almost" grown children and a Yorkshire Terrier. In my free time I enjoy going to auctions and searching Antique malls for Victorian treasures. I am constantly trying to "Victorianize" my 1989 home with these treasures. I love to decorate, create vignettes and enjoy staging photos. I also have fun collecting miniatures for my dollhouses.